My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 51: The Captain

Kace traced his scar with a finger silently as they made their way down the rugged sandy path leading to town from the cliff. His growth had been slow over this past year only finally reaching level 10 last month.

'I guess that's what happens when things aren't constantly happening.' He thought with a heavy sigh. Once again breathing in the salty air.

He was still shocked that it had taken them a year to travel from Stonefall to here. The distance had been far greater than he had imagined. Who knew how old he would be by the time they completed the journey if they continued it on foot.

'We need to find a way to travel faster.' His legs were sore from all the walking they had done. Sure he was stronger than he had been back on Earth but the distance probably would have taken longer than a year if this had not been the case.

They constantly had to avoid using the main roads. There was always the chance they would run into heroes. Such as what had happened two months ago. 

Kace had been so full of hatred after leaving Stonefall he began to indiscriminately kill any humans they came across. Unfortunately a hero they had never met before was travelling with one of the caravans he had tried to attack.

This hero had him completely outmatched, leaving behind the scar across his eye as a gift to remember him by. They had barely escaped him with their lives. It had been the closest he had come to death since coming to this new world.

Grugda followed behind with his usual heavy steps. Kace had slipped into a town and procured boots and leather armour for the Eljein. A brown travellers cloak hung from his shoulders with a hood to hide his face.

Just incase though they also wrapped his face with bandages. As if they were trying to cover up horrifying war wounds so as not to disgust normal people. 

Usually when people saw this they would not ask too many questions. Either the man whose face was disfigured under those bandages was just unusually tall, possibly a half giant. Or he was a golem. 

Golems were rare and only influential or extremely wealthy people would have one. Kace had a dangerous vibe around him so many assumed he was a well off member of a guild. Causing them to maintain a respectful distance which actually aided the pair.

As they neared the town there were a couple of rough looking guards sitting on rocks before the gates. It was just spiked wooden walls they had for defence as barely anyone came here anymore.

The rumours they had heard as they came here hinted that the town had been overrun by bandits and pirates. It was the only place that still had a ship that travelled to Ulafor Island, where Sonja was last known to be.

The guards eyed the pair suspiciously. Trying to decide if they were worth messing with. The halberd that the short one was carrying looked pretty nasty though and those golden eyes looked like they were ready to eat them alive.

After some whispering between themselves one of them ran off by himself in the direction of the only manor in town. The men grabbed their weapons and stood up to block their path forward.

"Hold it right there! What's yer business in Sirens Rest?" The largest of them growled at the pair.

"We're seeking passage to Ulafor Island. Is there a problem with that?" Kace's voice was laced with venom as he spat the words out.

The guards were not blind. They could see this young man was not intimidated by them at all. In fact he was giving them the feeling that he could easily kill them all off as easily as taking a morning stroll.

The large one who had spoken to them began sweating bullets. His shirt began to stick to his back as it became drenched with sweat. 'Fuck! Why'd someone like this have to arrive when it was my turn on the gate!'

Kace continued to stare them down. Making them squirm as they stood against him. One of them in particular was glad he was wearing a dark pair of pants that were tucked into his boots today. As he felt his foot squelch in the warm liquid that had run down his inner leg into the boot.

Kace's lip curled in a sneer as he recognised the smell emanating from the man. Though nobody else seemed to notice it. Grugda placed a hand on his shoulder and gripped tightly.

"We should wait. We don't want. Trouble." The Eljein tried to calm his companion with soft tones. Over the past year the extra time Grugda had spent speaking the human language had allowed him to get out three words before a pause now. Although he would still periodically stop at two.

"You're right." Kace's face was wearing a heavy scowl as he said this though. As he slammed the pommel of his halberd into the ground and leaned on it.

The so called guards seemed to relax a bit seeing these actions. Feeling the tension ease up slightly. They still kept their weapons trained on the pair though. They were not complete morons!

Not long after this confrontation Kace spied ten men surrounding a rather well dressed ship captain looking sort coming from the manor. His black hair was slicked back and sported a long, wild beard.

Kace's eyes flashed as he recognised the weapons strapped across his chest. The man had four individual magic guns like the one he had gotten a hold of so long ago. At some point he had lost it though only for it to never be found no matter how hard he looked.

The twin pair of sabers at his waist bounced and shone in the new days sun. A hint of magic could be felt emanating from all six of his weapons. When he reached the guards he came to a halt. Pausing to appraise the pair seeking entry.

"Hoh, seems my men weren't just being cowards. You two definitely have some strength about ya." His eyes sparkled as he looked at them as if they were a newfound treasure. Turning his attention to the large guard from before he said, "So what's their business?"

"They claim to be seeking passage to Ulafor Island cap'n." The man  trembled as he spoke. No matter how badly Kace and Grugda scared him he still feared his captain even more.

"Is that true lads?" His eyes narrowed in on the pair as he asked his question.

"This is true sir. If you could recommend a ship we would be most obliged." Kace used his most endearing tone when he answered. After all this man could be the difference between them getting there or not.

"Hmm," the captain hummed as he stroked his beard. "It's doable but only my ship sails those waters these days. Saying that I only take crew members, no passengers."

Kace immediately got the hint. The captain basically wanted them to volunteer as members of his crew if they wanted passage. 'Tsk, sly fox.' Kace swore in his mind.

"We would be honoured if the Captain would deem us fit to serve under him." Kace replied with a deep bow of respect all the while hating the need to bootlick this nobody.

"Wonderful!" The captain announced, using a loud tone followed by a jovial laugh. "You're smarter than you look kid! Just need to take care of the paperwork then."

Kace did not miss the sudden look of fear in the guards eyes as their captain said this. Faster than his eyes could follow the captain drew two pistols placing them to the temples of a random guard and the one who pissed himself. Right before proceeding to blow their brains out all over the roadside.

"Wonderful, it seems I do indeed have two vacant spaces in my crew." He announced almost at the exact same time that the pistols went off. As their bodies hit the floor he continued, "Come let me introduce you to my gal. Her names 'Freedom', I'm sure you'll be pleased with your decision!"

Laughing merrily he turned his back on them and began to walk away. As soon as they could no longer see his face he dropped his facade. His mouth curled up in a malicious sneer. 'Imagine pissin yourself, you only have yourselves to blame. The stench of fear was all over you.'

Kace stared at his back dumbstruck by what had just happened. 'He just killed his own men without a second thought!? I like his style!'

"It's best not to keep Cap'n Raven waiting. You've seen what he could do." The large guard offered his advice as he silently trembled. Bringing Kace back to reality.

"Oh yeah, guess we'll be working together then?" He asked with a friendly tone now that their attitudes had been adjusted.

"Yeah, sure..." The guard replied in a depressed tone. With no enthusiasm what so ever.

***

Important Author Note Please Read

Hey folks! I've had to edit this is to quite a few chapters so that as many people as possible see it. Please read to the end as it is important.

First off. I need to thank each and everyone of you for the massive show of support in the past few days. You guys are the heart and soul of why I do this.

Second. You deserve to be rewarded. You have shown so much support that I feel you deserve something more in return. Therefore I'm going to try to start releasing two chapters a day. They may be a tad shorter but you'll end up with more to read overall.

Third. Some goals! We're doing well in quite a few of the charts. So let's aim for more. See below for targets to meet and the rewards to go with.

1. Enough votes to make it into top 100 in power Ranking. Two extra chapters to be released next Monday.

2. Top 50. You get 3 extra chapters.

3. Top 25. You get 4 extra chapters.

4. Top 10. You get 5 extra chapters.

5. Top 3. It's a secret but will be worth it.